Osama Bin Birkenstock
A bunch of Santa Cruz students staged a protest of military recruiting on campus and ended up (according to MSNBC) on a Pentagon database as a "credible threat." Let's check in on their protest, from a New York Times story by Sarah Kershaw:
"Racist, sexist, antigay," the demonstrators recalled shouting. "Hey, recruiters, go away!"
I'm sorry, should I be terrified now? (I mean, about something other than the fact that dred locks are surely continuing their progression through the white population up there in Santa Cruz.)
Yes, some recruiters did have their tires slashed after the protest. I'm entirely against any kind of vandalism. But, something tells me it was just a few unethical turds who did that -- none of whom were on orders from the likes of Mr. Zarqawi.
Go Banana Slugs!
eric at January 14, 2006 1:36 PM
I am curious on one point...you lightly dismiss the tire slashing.
If those cars belonged to any other group of people, would you see the idea that somebody took out a large knife and cut through heavy rubber to slash their tires as something potentially threatening?
As I understand it the "recruiter protesters were 'tracked'" story is now somewhat debunked, so it is a bit of a moot point. But, to examine the question from the other side. How would you consider the situation if it was, say, women working at an abortion clinic and abortion clinic protesters slashed their tires? Would you say that those women (the ones in the clinic that is) faced a threat of any sort?
Would it matter to you (and this is admittedly a bit of an unfair ploy), if you knew that one of the recruiters was a female who stands about 5'2''? Should she (hypothetically) have considered herself threatened by people who took out knives and used them on her car?
Best from Baghdad,
Bob
Bob Bateman at January 24, 2006 8:30 AM
I am firmly against any sort of destruction of another's property. Any. That said, I see it as criminally unethical behavior that should be prosecuted -- by the police -- not as something that should be clogging the Feds when there's real terrorism they could be finding.
Amy Alkon at January 24, 2006 10:03 AM
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